One of the lessons learned from the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, according to Senator Dino Melaye, the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for governor, is that the Kogi East Senatorial District’s voters lost because they failed to work together with other zones.
One important lesson from the governorship race, according to him, is that Kogi East residents now “more than ever before” understand that they need the backing of other senatorial districts in order to win the governorship.
Melaye, who served as the 8th Assembly’s representative for Kogi West Senatorial District, continued by saying that Kogi West ought to take note of the lessons learned from the previous election and pay attention to the counsel of the elders rather than “commercialised characters who created problems for us because of their individual and selfish interests.”
He made his remarks on Thursday at a luncheon in Abuja that members of his campaign group had arranged in his honour.
One of the lessons learned is that the East is increasingly aware that they cannot become governors on their own.
“To become governor, you will need to work with someone in another zone. The PDP candidate stated, “We went through these elections, irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of betrayals, and so many other things.”
Reiterating that he ran a very nonviolent campaign and that there was never any violence during any of his travels, the former senator appeared to be supporting the government’s claim that Kogi State is peaceful.
“We did not have a single gunshot fired at us during the campaign,” he declared. Not even once. During the long, dark evenings, we travelled throughout the state. We even made it to Bassa, in fact.
“We were travelling on that incredibly desolate road during those ominous hours of the night. When the SDP arrived in Anyigba, it was around midnight or one in the morning. Despite the reports we had heard about shootings and killings, there had been none of the kinds of incidents that occurred there or at us.
“We did not go through any such thing, and we did not lose any souls. We are thankful to God for this.
Additionally, he chastised many Western leaders for not fully collaborating with him, claiming that this contributed to his downfall.
One of my commanders spread a completely erroneous impression that I was trying to sow chaos, according to several Western leaders. However, a few leaders persisted and said that this is what they would do. Breakfast has been served to all of them.
“I want to think that we have learned a lot from this election, with God’s help. Kogi has never seen a campaign like the one we offered them. That’s the reality, he said.
Melaye, though, commended himself and his group for executing “a sophisticated campaign.”
“We went around with the message and a policy document that took roughly three months to put together. By God’s mercy, we are also unable to claim that we lost since there was no election.
“By the time we run the numbers, the PDP has never spent as much in Kogi State’s history as we did in this election.” We are aware. We know that, after all,” he remarked.
Melaye encouraged his fans to hold onto hope because there would be another chance soon.
Thus, we don’t need to lose hope. It’s not to become dejected. To not give up is the goal.
We must remain united as a political family and declare that we will make up for the things we lost on the streets at the roundabout. Additionally, this election imparted numerous lessons,” he said.
